Yokohama City has received various “city titles” from the Japanese government, including the “Eco-Model City.” By way of trial, the city started the “Yokohama Blue Carbon” project focusing on utilization of the ocean as a global warming countermeasure. Through making its residents more aware of the nearby ocean, we hope to expand policies that take advantage of the characteristics of an urban ocean area.

While fisheries resources are a large asset for Pacific island states, the adverse conditions resulting from their decrease in recent years has been compounded by repeated instances of severe damage from large-scale natural disasters. On the other hand, Japan has learned many lessons from its long history in recovering from large-scale natural disasters. Thinking that Japan’s various experiences and lessons learned in disaster risk management could in large part serve as useful case studies for Pacific island states, we invited government officials from six Pacific island states and conducted a training course for them.

Freediving is a competitive event in which participants compete for how deep they can dive on one breath. Diving at a depth of 100m has the appeal of allowing one to experience the condensed blue color of the deep ocean. Here, I will introduce the appeal and competitive nature of freediving.